Young Lives at Risk on the Streets depicts the environments and dangers that homeless
and runaway children face in Mexico and Central America.

Throughout the region thousands of neglected children wander
the streets tangled in drugs and homelessness. They are runaways from
dysfunctional families, neglect, poverty and abuse. As a means of survival,
they work in the city’s main garbage dumps, collecting recyclables or metal
scraps worth pennies. They exhaust their bodies and their minds, while
also sacrificing their right to an education. They sleep on sidewalks
with each other or hidden in drainpipes. They roam the streets barefoot
and survive by begging, stealing, and performing menial labor. Often coerced
and manipulated, many are sexually exploited and trafficked or prey to gangs.
Many youths live with HIV or STDs with no access to health care.

This body of work was produced in partnership with Covenant
House Latin America street outreach workers and the youth who agreed to
collaborate.